Nasty Jack
by MrandMrsTemple
Summary: The prequel to Fungus Baby, set after ep 3.10. Jack Maitland has found out about the dinosaurs, and wants to make a fortune out of them. But how can the team stop him when half of them are trapped in the past?
1. The Ancylotherium family

Nasty Jack

Chapter 1

Danny knelt on the sight where the anomaly had been, holding his head in his hands.

He couldn't belive how unlucky he was. If only the anomaly had stayed open for just a few seconds more, then he could have made it back. He could be with Abby and Connor now, they could all be going home safe in the knowledge that humanity was safe. Instead, he was trapped here in the Pliocene, 3 million years away from home.

Then he pulled himself together. 'Come on Danny' he told himself. 'There's no point just staying here, the important thing now is to look for another anomaly and go through it.'

Steadily, he rose to his feet and headed back in the direction he had come, back towards the stream. As he reached it, he passed the corpses of Helen Cutter and the raptor that had ended her life, along with the bodies of countless hominids whom Helen had mercilessly poisoned. The bank of the stream was now alive with vultures, all picking at the dead animals. Danny was pleased to see most of them picking at Helen, eager to see what human tasted like.

He continued to head upstream, hoping to find another anomaly. But there was none. Tired from walking under the merciless Pliocene sun, Danny sat down on a rock to rest.

Suddenly, he heard a strange grunting noise coming from his right. He looked in that direction to see two equally strange animals coming down to the stream. They walked a lot like gorillas, but instead of walking on their knuckles, they had padded hooves. Their black faces were similar to a pony's, but with much shorter ears. They had a zebra-like pattern on their bodies and were the size of elephants. Danny remembered reading about these in one of the ARC's creature files, these creatures were ancylotherium. It was a mother and baby, and they were obviously coming here to drink, unaware that the stream was filled with Helen's deadly poison.

"No!" cried Danny, running towards them and waving his arms, "You musn't drink from here!"

The mother ancylotherium saw him and bellowed with alarm, before ushering her calf away and upstream, as they tried to find another bit of stream to drink from. Danny found himself running after him, trying desperately to get them away from the stream. They turned a corner, Danny hoped that they were going to move away.

But as he rounded a corner, he found the ancylotherium to be standing stock still, and the reason soon became apparent, an anomaly. There it was, shimmering in front of them, the two animals were transfixed by it, as was Danny.

Then, the mother ancylotherium turned and saw Danny. She bellowed adn aslong with her baby, dashed through the anomaly. Danny groaned and followed them.


	2. Waking up in the Cretaceous

Nasty Jack

Chapter 2

Abby stirred awake. She had just had the most magical night of her life. Connor's arms were wrapped around her as he lay beside her. They both lay covered up by their jackets, so that any inquisitive pterosaurs wouldn't get a good glimpse of their doings.

As she opened her eyes more, she took in a glorious sunrise. She smelt the gorgeous smell of pine coming from the trees around her, like the one and Connor had spent the night in.

Suddenly Abby remembered where she was. She was up a tree with Connor, in the Cretaceous period.

"Connor, quick get up!"

Connor grunted awake as Abby shook him gently.

"Connor, it's morning." said Abby.

"So?" mumbled Connor sleepily.

"So, we need to look for Danny now, like we said!"

Connor sat upright, he suddenly remembered what had happened yesterday. He and Abby had stayed behind in the Cretaceous while Danny had gone into the Pliocene to stop Helen. While Abby changed as privately as she could, Connor reached for his trousers, which he had hung up on a branch the previous night.

What a night that had been, but now, it was time to find Danny.


	3. A Materialistic Mind

Nasty Jack

Chapter 3

11:00 pm, London, Present day.

Rain lashed against the window of a seedy motel room. Below a slowly turning ceiling fan, Jack Maitland sat on his bed.

Last week, when he was packing his things to move out of Abby's flat, he had found some photos. He was looking at them now. But these were no ordinary photos, they were of some of the wierdest things Jack had ever seen. There was one of a blond man in his 30s being chased by flying bird like things, there was another picture of Abby with Rex, standing next to someting which looked a bit like a tortoise with a bumpy back and a long tail instead of a shell. And there was another picture of a clean shaven guy with brown hair feeding...were those dodos?

Whatever the creatures were, there was only one word that came to Jack's mind as to describe them: dinosaurs. At first Jack had thought that the photos must be a hoax. But then he thought about Abby, how secretive she had been about her job, the irregular hours she worked. But most of all, he thought about the horrible creatures he had seen, and that light they had called an anomaly. What if these dinosaurs were also from these anomalies. As far as Jack knew, no one except Abby and her friends knew about these things. Imagine the money Jack could make if he revealed the secret to the world. He might even win the medal of honour.

But then he had thought about the creatures he had seen from the future. The giant bugs, the future bat things, and those worms. Those worms which had spat venom into his left eye, thanks to them, Jack would never be able to see out of that eye again. It had now glazed over and adopted a glassy look, revealing its owner's blindness.

Then again, those creatures were from the future. It was only natural that they should be dangerous. But Jack wanted to catch dinosaurs. From what little he knew about dinosaurs, they were big, stupid animals that should be easy to catch. If only he had someone to help him catch them.

He rubbed his good eye sleepily and turned on the radio.

"And now," said the person on the line, "we are here with ex colonel of the Russian army, Peterson Skarr. So Colonel Skarr, what can you tell us about your life."

"Thank you Gregory" said another man in a heavy Russian accent. "I was born in Moscow in 1924. I joined the Russian army during the Second World War when I was 18, and I soon rose up to the ranks of Colonel"

"Right, so what happened after that."

"There was a battle, with great casualties for the Russians. I was one of the only survivors. But I was badly injured you see, so I was forced to retire and leave the front line. But my years as a colonel had earned me much money, so I travelled the world. I went to India, Africa, all places where there was big game."

"But why?"

"I felt that I needed the thrill of my colonel years, and shooting gave me that thrill. I hunted for sport, but I also hunted down animals for game parks and circuses. I like to think of myself as gifted with both rifle and tranquiliser gun." He sighed. 'But now, I am old, I have hunted all the animals, there are no more exciting ones left for me to hunt."

"Not for long there aren't" said Jack. And he got out his computer and started doing research on Colonel Peterson Skarr.


	4. Travelling Companions

Nasty Jack

Chapter 4

As Danny headed through the anomaly, he found himself in desert with an even hotter sun than the Pliocene and glaring white sand that was so bright it was hard to look at. And yet Danny managed to look at it long enough to spot two sets of ancylotherium footprints, heading off towards a sound like trickling water. Danny deduced that there must be a stream in that direction, at least the ancylotherium had found a safe place to drink. But all the same, he had to get them back to their own time, and he had to get back to his.

As he followed the footprints, Danny heard the sound of frightened bellowing coming from over a sand dune. As he peered over it, he realised that the stream was not so safe after all.

Surrounding the ancylotherium were several crocodile-like beasts. They had long legs, hooked jaws lined with sharp, tightly packed teeth and they were very skinny. These were chasmatosaurus, and Danny now knew that he was in the early Triassic period. The mother ancylotherium was bellowing defensively and trying desperately to keep her calf between her legs, where she could defend it with kicks strong enough to crack the skull of a chasmatosaurus. But the chasmatosaurus were desperate creatures. With the dry season in full swing, their stream was rapidly drying up and fewer and fewer prey animals were coming to drink from it. They didn't care that this prey was from the future and was at least twice their size, food was food.

Suddenly, while two chasmatosaurus distracted the mother ancylotherium, a third dashed between her legs and grabbed the calf by its hind leg. Squealing in pain and fear, the baby was dragged out from below its mother and towards the stream, where other chasmatosaurus snapped their jaws hungrily.

"NO!" bellowed Danny, "Leave them alone!"

He took out his pistol and shot at the chasmatosaurus holding the baby ancylotherium. The bullet passed straight through the creature's head so it never knew what hit it. Instantly, the other chasmatosaurus changed their behaviour. They turned their attentions away from the ancylotherium and diverted them instead towards the dead chasmatosaurus. They dragged it into the stream and soon they were battling over the corpse, tearing at each other for a taste of the meat, they were that desperate.

Meanwhile, the baby ancylotherium struggled to its feet and headed towards its mother. Danny walked slowly up to them. The baby saw him, but rather than bleating in fear, instead, it went over to him and nuzzled him gently. The mother followed her youngster and did the same thing.

Danny grinned at first, but then he remembered that he had to get these two back to their own time. Beckoning them to follow, he headed back towards the anomaly. But as he crossed the dune, he saw that it was no longer there.

'Why is this happening to me?' thought Danny. Then the mother ancylotherium nudged his shoulder. Danny turned to see her kneeling down on her front legs. She was offering to let him ride her.

'Well,' thought Danny as he mounted the ancylotherium. 'I may be lost in the Triassic, but at least I've got a couple of travelling companions.'


	5. The Anomaly Opener

Nasty Jack

Chapter 5

Abby and Connor trekked back through the woods, back towards the anomaly sight. Connor was leaning on Abby a bit, but fortunately, last night's sleep seemed to have done him some good. He was trying to walk on his own as much as possible, even if he still needed to lean on Abby's shoulder from time to time.

At last, they came to the tree where they had parted from Danny. The raptor bodies were still here, but evidently, they had not gone unnoticed for long, several had been picked bare by small mammals and other scavengers, and one body was missing. Connor and Abby half suspected that something had dragged it away to eat elsewhere.

"This is where we last saw Danny" said Abby.

"Which way did he go then?" asked Connor.

Abby looked around for a bit, but soon, she pointed in the direction she had last seen Danny going in. She and Connor headed down the hill towards him, but they found no anomaly. Eventually, Connor had to sit down on a log and rest.

"Where is this anomaly?" said Abby. "It can't have been that far away."

"Abby, I hate to be the voice of doom," said Connor. "but I think that anomaly is closed."

Abby gasped and put her hands to her mouth.

'But, but how are we going to get him back then?"

"I don't know" said Connor wearily. Then he noticed something amongst the leaf litter, glinting in the sunlight. He bent down and wincing slightly from the pain it caused him, picked up the object.

"What is it?" asked Abby.

"I think its that thing that Helen used to open the anomalies" said Connor.

"But that's great" said Abby, "We can get Danny back now."

"Yeah we could" said Connor, "Only we don't know how to use it."

Abby's face fell. "So now what do we do? We can't get you back through the future, not with those injuries, you'd never survive."

Connor looked up at her. "I'll tell you what we're going to do Abby. We're going to work out how this thing works, we're gonna get Danny back, and then, we're going to go home."

Abby smiled, "Yep, you're right Connor."


	6. Colonel Skarr

Nasty Jack

Chapter 6

Jack made his way along the Thames, wrapped up in a baggy raincoat. According to his research, Colonel Skarr had retired from hunting and now lived in a flat not far from the Thames. Jack was now battling against a heavy thunderstorm in order to get to him. He turned left and finally, came to the flat. Nervously, he knocked on the door. There was the sound of someone grumbling in Russian. Then the door was opened.

Standing before Jack was a wizened old man in his eighties. He was bald with a hooked nose, and skin so wrinkled Jack was suprised that they hadn't swallowed up his eyes and mouth. As his name would suggest, he had an enormous scar which went right across the left side of his face. He was dressed in a green dressing gown which looked far to big for him.

"Who are you, and what do you want at 1:00 in the morning?" demanded Skarr in a wheezy voice.

"Colonel Peterson Skarr" said Jack bluntly.

Skarr pulled out a pistol from within the folds of his dressing gown and pointed it at Jack's head.

"How do you know my name?" he snarled.

"I heard you on the radio earlier this evening." said Jack hastily.

"Ah yes, that radio broadcast" said Skarr without lowering the pistol. "I have recently returned from the station and had hoped to get a good night's sleep, until you came along and ruined it!" He cocked the pistol, "Give me one reason why I should not shoot you dead and throw your body into the river."

"I heard about how you liked hunting and I'm here to tell you that there are some new animals for you to hunt" said Jack without taking a breath.

Skarr lowered his pistol and regarded Jack suspiciously. "Well, in that case you had better come in."

Jack entered and found himself in an enormous living room with walls covered in mounted guns and stuffed animal heads. Skarr shuffled over to a small circular table and sat himself down without offering Jack a seat. He took a swig from a small bottle of whisky and then placed it within his dressing gown.

Jack decided to start the conversation off. "My name is Jack Maitland. I..."

"I don't care who you are!" shouted Skarr. "Just tell me what you want to tell me, before I change my mind about shooting you!" He fingered the pistol which he had put down on the table in front of him.

Jack swallowed nervously and got to the point.

"Have you noticed any wierd things going on lately?"

"Many wierd things happen in this dreary little city you call home" said Skarr with more than a hint of impatience in his voice.

"I mean things like people disappearing, wierd animal sightings, that sort of thing."

Skarr stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I have noticed the occasional thing from time to time, but it has never been of any concern to me."

"Well now it is" said Jack. He reached into the pocket of his raincoat and pulled out the photos he had taken from Abby's flat. He passed them over to Skarr. "All of those wierd things, are down to dinosaurs passing through these wierd time holes. I think they're called anomalies."

Skarr examined each photo slowly, before passing them bak over to Jack and roaring with wheezy laughter.

"These photos are fake Mr. Maitland. Any fool can see that."

"No" cried Jack. "These photos are not fake and I can prove it. What's the matter with you, didn't you love your hunting days? Don't you want to get the ultimate prize in hunting?"

Skarr stopped laughing and shuffled over to the door. As he opened it, he turned back to Jack.

"I shall make you a deal Mr. Maitland. Bring a real life prehistoric animal to this flat, and I shall willingly join you on your dinosaur hunt."

Jack grinned and got up to go to the colonel.

"Only if you bring a prehistoric animal, Mr. Maitland" Skarr reminded him.

"Oh don't worry about that, Colonel' said Jack sneakily. "I think I know just where to find a prehistoric animal for you."

And grinning with self satisfaction, Jack headed out into the night back to his motel. Tomorrow morning, he would be paying a little visit to Abby's flat.


	7. A Means of Transport

Nasty Jack

Chapter 7

"I don't understand" said Abby. "You were able to use one of those things last time, why can't you do it this time?"

"Last time we had the numbers given to us by the artifact" said Connor. 'But that was only for the Cretaceous period. We don't know what the other numbers for the other time periods are, otherwise we would have gone straight to the Pliocene. And from the looks of things, Helen wasn't one for sharing her numbers."

"So all you need to do is unlock the code, and we'll be able to get Danny back" said Abby.

"Yeah, basically" said Connor.

They were walking along a riverbank. Connor was trying his best to walk on his own, but Abby was worried about him. She knew that out here, being injured and unable to walk properly could be fatal, but what choice did Connor have? Connor winced in agony again and collapsed on to Abby's shoulder.

"This is hopeless" said Abby, "You can't walk around in the Cretaceous like that Connor. We need to find some means of transport."

Connor was just about to ask how when suddenly there came a great screech from above his head. Two male pteranodons, an adult and a juvenile, were battling it out over territory. The juvenile was smaller, and able to dodge the adults attacks, but then suddenly, the adult made a twist of his head and grabbed the juvenile's foot in his beak. The juvenile squawked with pain for a while before the adult released him with a warning honk. The juvenile soared down to the riverbank for a drink while the adult flew off in the opposite direction.

"Stay here" whispered Abby to Connor as she tiptoed in the direction of the drinking pteranodon. Connor never once took his eyes off her as she approached the pterosaur. He saw her and squawked with alarm, flapping his wings wildly as it did so.

"Abby!" whispered Connor, but Abby put her hand up to signal him to be quiet. Gently, slowly, she reached up to the pteranodon's long beak and stroked the end of it. The pteranodon made no response and allowed Abby to stroke him. After a while, he eventually turned around and spread his wings out wide, as if beckoning for her to ride him. Abby headed back to Connor and they both hobbled towards the pteranodon.

"You're a regular horse whisperer Abby" said Connor. "I'm impressed."

"Thanks Con" said Abby as they both mounted the pteranodon.


	8. Obtaining Proof

Nasty Jack

Chapter 8

Jack arrived at Abby's flat and headed for the door. He rang the doorbell but no one answered, after trying several times, it became quite obivous that Abby wasn't home.

'Good' thought Jack. Now that his lizard loving sister wasn't at home, stealing Rex for Skarr would be no trouble. Nor for that matter would be breaking into her flat. When Jack was sixteen, he and his friend Tony had regularly broken into people's houses, mostly those of people who they didn't like at school. Grabbing a nearby brick, Jack hurled it through the window and soon, he was in the flat.

"Rex" called Jack, "Where are you?". But no reply came, no chirping, no Rex came flying down to greet him. Then, Jack noticed a note on the table.

'Gone to take Rex to see Connor' read the note. 'If anyone wants me, I'll probably be at number 34, Lester Street. From Abby.'

Ah, so that's where he was. Jack wasted no time in getting over there.

* * * * * *

Once arriving at Lester Street, Jack hurled his brick through the window and climbed through.

"Rex" he called, "Rex, where are you?"

There came no reply from Rex, instead a couple of really weird looking things came running up to Jack. They were brown and white and were about the size of large guinea pigs. They looked a lot like them too, except that they had no fur, and they had a short beak and small tusks, as well as very big eyes. Jack didn't know what these things were but he knew that they looked genuinely prehistoric. Skarr would definitely believe these.

He reached down to pick up one of them, they showed no fear. Suddenly there came a loud high pitched chirp and Jack felt something smack into the side of his face and start ripping out his hair. It was Rex. he had sensed Jack's presence in the flat and had hid, but now that Jack was trying to take Sid and Nancy, Rex knew that he had to fight him. Quickly, he chirped a warning to Sid and Nancy, telling them to hide somewhere where Jack would not find them. They took it and scurried away down a small hole in the floorboards they had been working on lately.

Finally, Jack grabbed Rex and wrenched him off his face, leaving several small gashes made by Rex's claws.

"Congratulations Rex" sneered Jack, "You're going to make me a fortune, you and more of your little prehistoric mates."

* * * * * *

Jack knocked on Skarr's door again, grinning ear to ear with smug satisfaction. Skarr opened the door.

"Ah, Mr. Maitland. I see you have come. I trust you have a prehistoric animal with you."

"You're correct Colonel" said Jack as he entered Skarr's flat with a pet carrier.

"Well, then where is it?" asked Skarr.

"Right here" Jack patted the pet carrier, which he placed on Skarr's table. He opened it and shook out the contents. Rex tumbled out on to the table. Instanly, he perked up and tried to get a good view of his surroundings. He chirped in horror at seeing the stuffed animal heads mounted on the wall.

All this time, Skarr watched Rex closely, never taking his eyes off him. Finally though, he got up and went over to the window. He opened it and turned back to Rex.

"Shoo" he whispered, beckoning out the window. Rex didn't need to be told twice. Before Jack could grab hold of him again, he leapt from the table and flew out the window.

'What did you that for?" cried Jack indignantly.

'Mr. Maitland, I asked you to bring me a prehistoric animal. That was a modern day Draco Volans lizard from South-East Asia, a large one I have to say, but a Draco Volans nonetheless." said Skarr.

'You stupid old sod!" shouted Jack. "That was a real life prehistoric creature I'm telling you!"

"Get out of my flat before I shoot you, Mr. Maitland" hissed Skarr.

Reluctantly, Jack dragged his feet towards the door.

"And don't even think about coming back here unless you have a real life prehistoric animal with you" said Skarr.

As Skarr slammed the door behind him, Jack made his way back to Lester Street. He still had two more creatures to deal with.

* * * * * *

Rex sat perched on the roof of the flat. He watched as Skarr hurled Jack out of the flat, and watched as Jack headed back towards Lester Street. He launched himself off the roof and headed in the same directon, for despite what Jack said, Rex was anything but a stupid lizard. He knew why Jack was heading back to Lester Street and he also knew that he had to get there first and warn Sid and Nancy to remain hidden. For although he could pass for a modern day animal, they certainly couldn't.


	9. Escaping the Triassic

Nasty Jack

Chapter 9

Danny lay down on the ancylotherium's back. It was two days since the chasmatosaurus attack, two days spent trekking through an endless desert and he was beginning to lose hope. There was no shelter, no sign of any anomaly and most worrying of all, no sign of water. It didn't really matter that much to the mother ancylotherium, she had gone for periods of time without water many times in the Pliocene. But her calf was not so hardy, he frequently cried out for water. Occasionally, Danny had been able to share a small amount of water from his canteen with him, but only a small amount as that water was precious.

Danny groaned and lifted his head to get a look at his surroundings, as far as the eye could see, there was nothing but endless, shimmering desert. But wait, was that a patch of green?

'No way' thought Danny, 'It must be a mirage.'

But the ancylotherium didn't seem to think so, they dashed forward excitedly. Even so, Danny reamained pessimistic about it until they actually reached the greeness. The ancylotherium both started browsing on the ferns which carpeted the floor of the osais. All round them, a herd of lystrosaurus, like giant versions of Connor's diictodons, were doing the same thing. Danny slid off the ancylotherium's back and headed straight for a small pool of water. He splashed it all over his sunburnt face before filling his canteen with it. That was the good thing about the past, the water wasn't polluted and was safe to drink.

As the two ancylotherium came to join him, Danny thought he heard a shimmering sound coming from the other side of the pool. Could it be? Yes it was, an anomaly.

'Thank God' thought Danny as he headed towards it. Then he remembered the ancylotherium, it didn't seem fair to leave them here in a time that wasn't there own, particularly seeing as how the mother had carried him across the desert. Without her, Danny would have died out there.

He whistled to them and instantly, the calf came up to him, followed by his mother. Together, they headed through the anomaly and out of the Triassic.

* * * * * *

On the other side of the anomaly, Danny and the ancylotherium found themselves in a world very different to the one they had left behind. Rather than being a shimmering desert, the environment around them was cool and moist. There was grass beneath their feet and from a nearby forest, the sounds of birdsong echoed.

Thinking back on the reading he had done on the different time periods before joining the team, Danny tried to think about where they could possibly be. Then suddenly, there came a screech from the forest and the baby ancylotherium bleated in alarm. An enormous brown bird had just come out of the forest. It had the shaggy feathers and long neck and legs of an emu, but it was definitely much taller than an emu, this bird was the size of a giraffe. Its wings were tiny compared to the rest of its body, which immediatley told Danny that it was flightless. As it approached them, the mother ancylotherium gave a low snort, warning it to keep its distance.

"Hey hey, its alright girl" whispered Danny, rubbing the ancylotherium reassuringly, "It's only a moa, its a herbivore like you!"

As if to drive the point home, the moa turned away from the ancylotherium and started grazing.

Now Danny knew where they were, prehistoric New Zealand. And while that was comforting in the sense that they weren't that far away from the present, it was also disconcerting because of what Danny had heard about this time and place. He remembered visting New Zealand as a child, and while he was there, the whole family had gone to a Maori cultural centre. While they had been visiting, there had been a talk about how the Maori had first arrived in New Zealand, and in particular, about how they had encountered the moas, and a very frightening aerial predator.

Suddenly there came an ear splitting shriek from over their heads, like an eagles. The moa screeched in alarm and dashed back under the cover of trees. Danny and the ancylotherium followed, lest they too became dinner for New Zealand's top predator.


	10. Obtaining Proof Again

Nasty Jack

Chapter 10

Rex was tired, hungry and frustrated, but most of all he was lost. This was not surprising seeing as all he had ever seen of the present day world was Abby's flat, the golf course, Leek's bunker and number 34 Lester Street. But apart from that, he had seen nothing of London and did not know the way back to number 34 Lester Street. He had tried asking several pigeons for directions, but being pigeons they had been incapable of giving any helpful advice. So now, he was having to find his own way back to Sid and Nancy.

Finally, he saw it, number 34 Lester Street. The window that Jack had got in through was still open, Rex flew through it. As soon as he was in, he called for Sid and Nancy, but there was no reply. Hoping against hope, Rex decided to check out that hole they had gone through, maybe they were still there. Alas, they were not there. After a thorough search of the flat, Rex landed on one of Lester's armchairs. If lizards could cry he would cry right now, Jack had already gotten here, he was too late.

* * * * * *

Jack stood with his back to the wall, a smug smile on his face. On the table in front of him, the two freaky guinea pig things were running about. Skarr was looking at them with profound amazement, when he finally spoke, he was stuttering.

"Th-this is amazing Mr. Maitland. W-what are these c-creatures?"

Jack produced a book he had borrowed from the library shortly after stealing the guinea pig things. He opened it to the right page and showed it to Skarr.

"Diictodon, Permian era, herbivore" read Jack.

For a moment, Skarr examined the book, then he stood up and faced Jack.

'Mr. Maitland, I shall proudly join you on your hunt. Thank you for telling me about this!"

"The pleasure is all mine, Colonel" said Jack smugly.

"So tell me" continued Skarr, "These animals come from these time portals that you call anomalies. Am I right?"

Jack nodded.

"But how are we to find these anomalies and catch these creatures?"

Jack reached into his pocket and pulled something out, it was Abby's handheld anomaly detector, Jack had stolen it just before leaving for Lester Street to get Rex.

"This thing will help us. It tells you when these anomaly things open and where they open."

Skarr took the anomlay detector and held it before him as if it were a priceless treasure.

'Fantastic" he whispered, "Simply fantastic!" He turned back to Jack, "Time to get out my old animal cages and tranquiliser gun!"


	11. The First Signs

Nasty Jack

Chapter 11

It was now a month since Abby and Connor had parted with Danny in the Cretaceous. During that time, they had both spent their days flying around on the pteranodon looking for a new anomaly, alas so far they had found none.

Fortunately, Connor was almost completely better, now that he didn't have to walk around so much. When he wasn't flying with Abby, he was busy trying to work out Helen's anomaly opener. It seemed to involve flicking through a menu of numbers and trying to select the right set to open a certain anomaly, once that was done, all one had to do was move the flat button like thing up and down in order to open or close an anomaly. But Connor couldn't be too sure right now.

Meanwhile, unusual things had been happening to Abby. Recently, when she woke up in the mornings she had felt extremely sick, and more often than not she actually had been sick, but only in the mornings. In addition to that, she suddenly found that she could smell a whole new range of things that she could never smell before, the stench of a pile of ankylosaurus dung for instance, or the sweetness of a daisy. But the biggest shocker had come this morning when she had been getting changed after taking a dip in a lake. She had found it hard to get her bra on properly, owing to the fact that her breasts now seemed to have gotten bigger. As a result she had had to struggle into her bra, much to the amusement of a herd of hypsilophodonts. Abby knew what was wrong with her after that, and she didn't know what to think. On one hand, she loved children and there was no one she would rather have a child with than Connor (who was obviously the father), but on the other hand, she couldn't think of a worse time or place to be pregnant than Cretaceous period North America. For now, she would keep her pregnancy to herself, even though she knew that it was only a matter of time before Connor found out about it.

One evening, Abby and Connor were riding on the pteranodon. The sun was setting and the light was getting dimmer, but that didn't stop Connor from examining the anomaly opener with one hand, and holding on to the pteranodon with the other. As they landed, he started to get very excited.

"What's up Con?" asked Abby, seeing the excited look on Connor's face, a look that always made her feel happy these days.

"I think I've worked out how to open anomalies with this thing" said Connor. Abby sat down on a log and beckoned for him to go on. Connor sat down next to her and showed her the anomaly opener.

"It's pretty simple once you figure out how to use it" he continued. "All you need to do is just select the right set of numbers", he pressed a button shaped like a downward facing arrow until he came to a set of numbers: 14523264.

"Then you select the place in the world that you want to get to" continued Connor. He pressed another downward facing arrow, selecting New Zealand.

"After that all you need to do is just push this big flat button up and you open the anomaly' concluded Connor.

"Fantastic Connor!" said Abby leaning forward and kissing him on the cheek. "Now we can get Danny back!"

"Yeah I know" said Connor, "Then after that, we can go home and just spend the night together, just the two of us."

Abby smiled half-heartedly.

"Abby" said Connor with concern, "Is something wrong?"

Abby sighed, now was the time to tell him.

"Connor, there's something you should know, something about me, something that's recently happened to me."

"What, what is it?" cried Connor, even more alarmed now. What did she need to tell him, was she sick, did she have a problem with their relationship?

"Connor" began Abby, "I'm-

Suddenly there was an ear splitting roar coming from a clump of nearby trees. A nearby didelphodon scurried back down its burrow, the pteranodon honked and flapped his wings, but he did not take off.

The trees rustled, and then the creature that had roared revealed itself: a juvenile tyrannosaurus rex!


	12. Attack

Nasty Jack

Chapter 12

The tyrannosaur growled as it took in its surroundings. It saw a pteranodon next to two, pink two legged mammals. It wasn't sure which ones to attack at first. On one hand, pteranodons were good eating if you could catch one, which more often than not, you couldn't. But on the other hand, the tyrannosaur had always been one for sampling new food, and besides, it had always enjoyed the taste of mammals. So it started towards Abby and Connor.

"Split up" whispered Abby, "That way one of us might survive!"

"No way" Connor whispered back, 'I didn't leave you on that beach in the future and I'm not leaving you now, Abby!"

Abby opened her mouth to protest but then, the tyrannosaur roared and charged the pair. Connor grabbed Abby's hand and together, they dashed to the left of the tyrannosaur. Suddenly, Connor felt Abby pulling him back, he turned around and saw that this was because the tyrannosaur had seized her by belt. Connor grabbed Abby's hand with both of his own hands, then he dug in his heels and held on to her as tightly as he could.

"You can't win, Connor" cried Abby.

"No, but I'm still not leaving you." Connor groaned from the strain.

For a moment there was a stalemate between Connor and the tyrannosaur, neither seemed to be able to pry Abby off the other, although that was probably because the tyrannosaur was simply admiring Connor's bravery. But then, it felt a great stabbing pain in its spine as the pteranodon jabbed at it with his scissor-like beak. The tyrannosaur roared in pain, releasing Abby in the process. She fell forwards on to Connor. As they struggled to their feet, the pteranodon flew in circles around the tyrannosaur, who had now abandoned Abby and Connor and was now attempting to snatch this flying pest out of the air. As it did so, it turned around, sending its long tail swishing through the air, it caught Connor on the forehead and sent him tumbling backwards.

'No!" screamed Abby, running to his side.

Meanwhile, the pteranodon swooped down in an attempt to peck out the tyrannosaur's eyes, big mistake. As it came in closer, the tyrannosaur lunged and caught him. It then shook the trapped pterosaur like a rag doll, before hurling him to the ground in front of Abby and the currently uncounscious Connor. The pteranodon gave a small, barely audible honk as he regarded the two with dying eyes, and Abby knew there and then that he had willingly sacrificed his life for them. Finally, the tyrannosaur bent down, took the pteranodon's neck in its jaws and with one snap, broke it. The pteranodon's life left him. The tyrannosaur gave a roar of victory and then dragged its prey away to eat elsewhere.

Meanwhile, Abby turned back to Connor. There didn't seem to be too much in the way of damage apart from a small bruise on his forehead, but all the same, he was unconscious. It brought Abby back to that terrible day when they had been attacked by the raptors and Connor had fallen out of the tree, she remembered shaking him frantically, desperately hoping that he would wake up. Now history was repeating itself, except last time Connor had only fallen from a tree, this time he had been hit on the head by a tyrannosaurus rex.

Abby began to cry. She had always had a liking for Connor, even in the days when she'd had a crush on that cheating Adonis, Stephen. Gradually though, this liking had turned to love. But Abby had never been able to admit to herself that she had loved Connor, after all, they were two very different people. He was a dinosaur geek and she was a zookeeper. In fact, part of the reason why she'd agreed to let Jack stay at her flat rather than the bed and breakfast place around the corner was so that she could convince herself she was not in love with Connor, and look how that had turned out! Thanks to her pride, she had almost lost Rex.

All this time she had spent with Connor she had never once told him she loved him, not even on that night when they had slept together in the tree. Suddenly that reminded Abby of what she'd been trying to tell Connor before the tyrannosaur attack. She looked down at Connor's unconscious form and spoke.

"There's something I need to tell you" she said. She bent down even closer, so that her lips were directly next to Connor's ear.

"Connor" whispered Abby, "I'm pregnant!"


	13. Opening the Anomaly

Nasty Jack

Chapter 13

Connor's brown eyes snapped open instantly. He sat up and rubbed his forehead, before turning his attention to Abby.

"W-what?" he stammered.

'I'm pregnant" said Abby again.

"H-how do you know?"

Abby sighed before continuing. "Well, I've been sick almost every single morning, my breasts are bigger and I can smell so much."

"You're gonna have a baby?" squeaked Connor excitedly.

"Yes" giggled Abby.

Connor threw his arms around her and kissed her deeply. Then he placed one hand on her belly.

"How far along are you?" he asked.

"One month" replied Abby.

Suddenly Connor had a horrible thought, what if this baby wasn't his? He had to find out.

"So, whose the father?"

Abby grinned. "You idiot Connor, it's you! I mean, how many other men have I slept with in the past month?"

Connor could have kicked himself. Now he remembered that amazing night he and Abby had spent in that tree a month ago. Then he had another thought.

"Oh my God, Abby we need to get you home. There's no way we can stay here in the Cretaceous with you being pregnant."

"I know Connor" said Abby. She picked up the anomaly opener-which Connor had dropped when the tyrannosaur had hit him-and handed it to him. "Just set it to the Pliocene and we can get Danny back."

"Ok" said Connor, "But first just let me test it out on the prehistoric New Zealand one."

He pushed up the flat button. There was a whoosing sound and right before their eyes there was a new anomaly.


	14. Nasty Jack

Nasty Jack

Chapter 14

Danny and the ancylotherium had spent a month in prehistoric New Zealand, looking for a new anomaly. But so far they hadn't found one.

During their stay, they had lived mostly in the forest, here there was protection from predators. They had also taken to sticking around the moa herds for food. Not that they had hunted any. The ancylotherium browsed alongside the adults, while Danny watched how the chicks-unable to reach up into the tall trees-had pecked at berry bushes. Later, when the herd had moved one, he would pick some berries for himself to eat.

However, although the berries were not poisonous and tasted good, Danny found himself really craving for some meat of some sort. He did not like the idea of shooting the moas even though they were due to become extinct anyway, so he decided to shoot himself a modern day bird. One day, while the ancylotherium were browsing on the edge of the forest, Danny ventured out into the open towards a large river, on the banks of which a fat takahe was preening itself. Danny took aim and shot the bird so that it didn't feel a thing.

As he was going over to pick it up, Danny heard an eagle-like shriek, a sound which recently, he had come to associate with danger. He snatched up the dead takahe and ran, but then the shriek sounded again, and Danny realised that the sound was not getting closer as he would have expected, instead it seemed to be coming from a nearby plateau. Danny put down the takahe and took out his binoculars.

On the plateau was an enormous eagle, the Haast's eagle, the largest and most deadly eagle the world had ever known. It had light brown feathers, on its head was a crest similar to that of a harpy eagles. It had wings the size of a small plane's and talons the length of a man's arm, which could crush the life out of a moa, or carry off a grown man.

However, this eagle did not look like it was going to attack him. It was a female, but rather than standing up, she was lying down on her side, dead? No, Danny could see her breathing, and embedded in one of her yellow legs, was that a tranquiliser dart? In the nest beside her, a pair of white, fluffy eaglets-each one the size of a man-sat chirping pitifully at the colossal form of their mother. But where was the third baby? Danny had observed that Haast's eagles usually had three eaglets.

Then, as he scanned the rest of the plateau, Danny saw the third eaglet. It had its legs sticking up in the air and it chirped for its mother as it was carried away by two men. One was an old man dressed in the 1940s uniform of the Russian army, the other appeared to be dressed in the uniform of an ARC soldier, but Danny knew every soldier in the ARC and he had never seen this man before. Then, he noticed a third man standing next to an anomaly giving orders, no it couldn't be, but it was. It was Jack, Abby's brother, that ungrateful little slug they had risked their lives for in the future. What was he doing here kidnapping Haast's eagle chicks?

Suddenly there was a short but strong gust of wind which knocked Danny over. As he picked himself up, he saw that it had been caused by a second Haast's eagle, this one with grey feathers, which told Danny that it was a male. This was obviously the father eagle, he had been out hunting, and now he was returning home to find one of his eaglets in the hands of humans. When they saw him, the two men carrying the eaglet instantly speeded up their pace and soon they were through the anomaly. Jack wasted no time in going after them, the anomaly closed behind him. The eaglet was gone!

* * * * * *

That night, Danny sat by the campfire eating his dinner of roast takahe. The two ancylotherium dozed next to him.

As he ate Danny began to have thoughts. If Jack had discovered the prehistoric side to the anomalies, then that would explain his reasons for being in prehistoric New Zealand. Danny had gotten the impression that Jack was a materialistic little creep, if so, then there would be no way he could resist the temptation of making money out of the anomalies, and in doing so, undoing everything the anomaly team had done to keep them a secret.

Suddenly he heard a whoosing sound coming from his right, the ancylotherium stirred as a new anomaly appeared before their eyes. Danny whooped for joy and after polishing off the last of the takahe, he threw the carcass on to the fire, mounted the mother ancylotherium and alongside the calf, they both went through the anomaly.


	15. The Team Reunited

Nasty Jack

Chapter 15

"Ok Connor" said Abby, "I think you've had that anomaly open long enough. How about opening one to the Pliocene right now?"

"Yeah, you're right" said Connor as he prepared to close the anomaly.

Suddenly there came a whoop from the other side. Abby and Connor stood stock still, they had heard that voice before, but shouldn't it be coming from the Pliocene? Then there came a low bellowing and a massive creature with a horse-like head came walking like a gorilla on padded hooves through the anomaly. Next to it was a smaller version of itself-a baby obviously-and on its back was...Danny.

"Oh my God" spluttered Connor. "Danny is that...is that an ancylotherium?"

Danny laughed as he slid off the ancylotherium's back. There was much joyous hugging and laughing.

"Oh my God, Abby, Connor, it's you" cried Danny, "You're both OK!"

"We were so worried about you Danny" said Abby, wiping way tears of joy.

Danny smiled at Abby, then he remembered what he had seen in New Zealand and realised that he had to tell her.

"Abby listen, there's something I have to tell you."

"Not now Danny" said Connor. He selected the set of numbers that would take them to the present day: 16181920. Then after selecting England as the location, he pointed the anomaly opener at thin air and pushed the button up. Instantly, a new anomaly whooshed into existence. Danny mounted the mother ancylotherium once more and once more, they went through the anomaly, but this time they were accompanied not just by the calf, but also by Abby and Connor.

* * * * * *

Abby, Connor, Danny and the ancylotherium found themselves in a London alleyway. It was nighttime and a full moon hung high in the sky. There weren't a lot of people about, which was just as well seeing as the two ancylotherium would have attracted quite a lot of attention.

"What to we do now?" asked Connor.

Danny was just about to say when suddenly, there came the screech of tyres. Cutter's old ute pulled up in front of them, the doors opened and Sarah Page and Captain Becker got out. When they first saw the team, they stood stock still and slack jawed. Then Sarah ran forward and threw herself into Abby's arms, laughing like a schoolgirl. Becker grinned and went up to Danny and Connor. The mother ancylotherium stood by and watched it all. At last, the anomaly team was reunited.


	16. There's Something About Jack

Nasty Jack

Chapter 16

"Oh my God" laughed Sarah, "It's you, I mean it's really you!"

"Yes Sarah" said Abby, 'It is."

Sarah pulled Abby into an embrace once more, however, when she pulled hersef out of the hug once more, her face was worried.

"Listen, Abby" said Sarah solemnly, "There's something we need to tell you, all of you."

"What is it?" asked Abby.

"It's about Jack" said Becker. 'Somehow, he's found out that anomalies can go to the past as well as the future, and now he's been capturing creatures."

Abby put her hands to her mouth. "No, not Jack surely."

Danny put his hand on her shoulder. "I'm sorry Abby, it's true. I saw him in New Zealand kidnapping a baby Haast's eagle."

"But, how's he been able to do this" gasped Abby, she couldn't believe that her brother had kidnapped a Haast's eaglet all on his own.

"He had help" said Becker bluntly.

"From who?" said Connor.

"From his friend Tony, and from someone else" said Becker. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a photo of a wrinkly old man in his eighties with a hooked nose and a scar across his face.

"Colonel Peterson Skarr" said Becker, "Former big game hunter and colonel of the Russian army. He's the one whose been doing the actual capturing, but Jack is the one in charge of it all."

"And that's not all" said Sarah, turning back to Abby, "His friend Tony attacked one of our ARC soldiers and stole his uniform and ID card. Abby, they've stolen the dracorex."

Abby leaned against a nearby rubbish bin, this was too much for her to take in. Her baby brother turned game hunter?

"So, do you know where they've got all of these creatures stored up?" asked Danny.

'No" said Becker. "That's the worst part, we have no idea where he keeps them, so we can't free them. He's covered up his tracks too well."

"Well then" said Danny, "Time we get these two creatures behind me back to the ARC."

"Two creatures?" said Becker quizzically.

"Yeah, there's a mother and a baby" said Danny.

"Danny" said Becker, "Maybe you need an eyesight test, because there's only one creature behind you."

Danny turned. Sure enough, the mother ancylotherium was still there, but where was the calf?

* * * * * *

While the team had been talking, the baby ancylotherium had gone off on his own, eager to explore this strange new world. Now he was browsing on a privet hedge. In fact he was so busy that he didn't hear the footsteps coming up from behind him.

Suddenly he was knocked sideways. He only just had time to bleat for his mother before he was bundled up and thown into the back of a truck.

* * * * * *

The team and the mother ancylotherium were searching for the calf. Suddenly, Abby stopped and sniffed the air.

"I smell deisel" she said.

Almost on cue, there came the sound of bleating. The mother ancylotherium bellowed and dashed off in the direction the sound had come from, the team following close behind. As they rounded the corner, they saw a man dressed in the uniform of an ARC soldier getting into a truck. Connor immediately recognised him as the man he had got Rex back from when Jack had lost him in a poker game. When he saw the team, he got into the truck and drove off. The baby ancylotherium bleated from the back of the truck. For a moment, the mother ancylotherium stood stock still, unable to believe what had just happened. Then she came to her senses again and charged after the truck, bellowing with fury.

"Becker, get the ute" said Danny.

'What?" said Becker.

"We need to follow that ancylotherium" said Danny, "With any luck, she'll lead us to wherever Jack's keeping the creatures!"


	17. Jack's Warehouse

Nasty Jack

Chapter 17

In an abandoned warehouse just a stone's throw away from the Thames, the Haast's eaglet sat in his cage and squawked pitifully.

He was currently having the worst time of his life. Just a few hours ago, he had been sitting in the nest with his brother and sister awaiting the return of their father. Then suddenly, their mother had turned towards the strange light that was at the end of their plateau and screeched angrily, only to be bitten on the leg by a strange insect which had embedded its shiny proboscis into her leg. Next thing the eaglet knew, his mother was out cold and he was being carried away by a couple of strange, two legged animals which he believed were called humans. Now he was sitting here in a cage so small he couldn't even stretch his wings, squawking loudly for his parents, not knowing that they were hundreds of years away in the past.

Around him, other creatures moaned just as pitifully. A diminuitive Silurian scorpion clicked its pincers angrily as it tried in vain to escape its cage. Three hesperornis chicks chirped folornly at their mother, who honked just as folornly back from a seperate cage. A male embolotherium bellowed in rage and pain from a cage so small he barely fitted in it. Two juvenile male smilodon tore at each other from within a cage that was simply not big enough for the both of them. The dracorex groaned like he had done when that knight had stuck his lance into his shoulder. And most heartbreaking of all, from a tiny cage on top of the dracorex's, Sid and Nancy gave out shrill cries of sadness, like babies crying.

Suddenly the door of the warehouse flew open. Jack Maitland stormed in, his good eye regarding the creatures around him.

"Skarr, I thought I told you to keep these creatures quiet. They're making a right racket, we'll be caught!" He turned to the creatures. "Shut up all of you!"

Instantly the creatures fell silent, except for the Haast's eaglet, who continued to squawk for his parents. Jack stormed over to his cage and rammed the side of it with a crowbar.

"I thought I said shut up!" he bellowed. His words did nothing to intimidate the eaglet, but his left eye, glassy and glazed over, did. The chick stopped squawking and instead whimpered at the sight of Jack's left eye, a sight that would haunt him for the rest of his life.

Suddenly there came the sound of the truck parking outside, which signalled that Tony was back with another creature. Jack snapped his fingers at Skarr and they both wheeled out an empty cage for the new creature. Moments later, they returned with the baby ancylotherium bleating from inside his tiny prison.

"Quit your whining" snapped Jack, hammering the side of the cage with his crowbar. But unlike the eaglet, the ancylotherium did not stop, he continued to bleat loudly at the top of his voice.

"Skarr, shut that thing up!" shouted Jack, "I've already got one blind eye, I don't need two deaf ears!"

Then all of a sudden, there came a whooshing sound and a bright light filled the room, another anomaly.

"Skarr" cried Jack, "Forget that bleating thing, get your tranquiliser gun and come look at this."

"Wow" said Tony, fingering the gun he had stolen from the ARC soldier. "I wonder where this one leads to."

Little did he know that he would soon find out. From the other side of the anomaly there came a clicking noise. Jack's blood ran cold as he remembered where he had last heard that sound, it was inside that bus in the future with Abby, Connor and Danny.

Minutes later, a hideous creature burst through the anomaly, a creature that Jack had hoped never to see again as long as he lived. The future predator!


	18. Unwelcome Faces

Nasty Jack

Chapter 18

Jack screamed loudly and ran. The predator, sensing Jack's fast beating heart, leapt on top of one of the cages and started chasing him.

"Don't just stand there, you twits!" screamed Jack at Tony and Skarr, "Shoot it, kill it, don't let it get me, don't let it get me!"

Tony and Skarr took aim at the future predator and fired, but they missed. They tried again, and again they missed. Each time they tried to shoot the predator, it simply hopped out of the way again. To make matters worse for Jack, the trapped creatures in the cages seemed to be egging the predator on, squawking, bellowing, roaring and clicking their support, except for the ancylotherium calf, who carried on with his bleating.

"It is impossible to kill, Mr. Maitland!" cried Skarr as he missed for the fifth time.

"I don't care!" screamed Jack as he dashed between the cages. "Just don't let it get me!"

Meanwhile, Tony took aim and actually managed to hit the future predator on the foot. It screeched with pain, before turning in the direction that the shot had come from. It sensed Tony's heartbeat and prepared to pounce.

"Yeah, that's it" cried Jack from the other end of the warehouse, "Kill him! Kill him instead of me!"

"What?" cried Tony indignantly, before the predator leapt on him and tore his throat out. As it started to feed on Tony's corpse, Skarr aimed for its head and prepared to fire. A gunshot rang out, the future predator screamed and clutched its head, before collapsing on top of Tony.

"Nice shot, Skarr!" said Jack.

Skarr looked puzzled. "I didn't shoot it, Mr. Maitland."

"No" came a voice from the warehouse door, "I did".

Standing there was Becker, his gun smoking. Around him stood Danny Quinn, Connor and Abby.

"Sacrificing your friend to save your own life" said Becker, "You really are a pathetic man, Jack Maitland."

Upon seeing that someone had come to rescue them, the creatures started to cry for joy. Sid and Nancy squeaked with happiness upon seeing Connor, who cried their names and dashed over to retrieve them, only to stop when Skarr aimed his gun at him.

'Keep away from those prehistoric animals!" he growled.

Meanwhile, Abby dashed up to her brother and threw herself at him.

"Jack, how could you do this?" she cried. "How could you capture all these creatures from their time periods and shove them in tiny cages just for money?"

"How could you not tell me about the anomalies?" retorted Jack.

"Jack, that was for your own good!" said Abby.

"My own good?" bellowed Jack. He pointed to his blind eye. "Thanks to you and your secrets, I can never see out of this eye again. If you had just told me everything from the start I'd still have two good eyes!"

"Yes that's fascinating" said Danny sarcastically. "Before we arrest you Jack, perhaps you'd care to tell us how you were able to find all of these anomalies in order to catch the creatures?"

Jack smiled smugly and pulled from his pocket Abby's anomaly detector. Abby gasped as she realised that her brother had stolen it yet again.

"Quite a useful little gadget this" said Jack.

Danny nodded. "You're right, it is. But unfortunately, you're never going to use it again in prison." He and Becker started towards him.

"Oh I don't think so" said Jack smugly, "Skarr will cut you down before you can get within a yard of me. Did you know he once cut down six Allied Forces soldiers with his eyes closed?"

"It is true" sneered Skarr.

"Alright then Colonel Skarr" said Danny with a look on his face that was far too calm for Skarr's liking. "But can you hit a moving target?"

Before Skarr could answer, Danny winked at Connor, who opened the door behind him and yelled 'Let her go, Sarah!"

Instantly, Sarah Page dashed through the door and together, she and Connor dashed to the side as the mother ancylotherium crashed through the door, bellowing furiously for her calf.


	19. Liberation of the Creatures

Nasty Jack

Chapter 19

Originally, the mother ancylotherium could not quite hear her calf, for his bleating was lost among the cacophany made by the other creatures. But soon enough, she picked up his cries again, and with a bellow, she dashed straight for the cage.

As she did so, she crashed into the cage containing the dracorex, sending it and Sid and Nancy's cage flying. The dracorex's cage rolled for a while before crashing into the embolotherium's cage. The doors of both cages flew open, releasing their occupants. Meanwhile, Sid and Nancy's cage flew through the air until it crashed into the one containing the hesperornis chicks. Both cages buckled and the creatures they had once contained were free.

"No" screamed Jack. "Stop them!"

As the dracorex heard Jack's voice, he turned in the direction it had come and snorted angrily. Now was the time for him to get his own back on his captor. Bellowing loudly, he charged towards the sound of Jack's voice, only to find his path blocked by the cage containing the two smilodon. He smashed their cage aside and continued on his way, releasing them in the process. Jack turned and ran, with the dracorex hot on his heels.

Amid the chaos, Sid and Nancy scurried over to Connor and leapt into his arms.

"Are you guys Ok?" asked Connor. Sid and Nancy's chirps told him that they were fine.

"Connor, listen to me" cried Danny. "You have to open anomalies so that these creatures can all go home!"

"You're right" said Connor. Handing Sid and Nancy over to Sarah, he took out the anomaly opener and headed for an area of the warehouse that was free of cages and creatures. He took a look around him, which creatures would he send home first? He saw the Haast's eaglet, just released from its cage by the embolotherium. Frantically, he selected the appropriate numbers and place. Then he pressed the flat button up, and the anomaly appeared before him. The eaglet chirped happily as he heard the cries of his family coming from the other side, then he dashed through the anomaly. Connor closed it and then set to work on the other creatures.

* * * * * *

Colonel Skarr crawled through the chaos. His legs were dragging behind him, limp and useless thanks to a run in with the smilodon. Now he watched as the young man with black hair started opening and closing anomalies with a strange little device which looked a bit like an electric shaver. As their anomalies opened, the creatures dashed through them.

Skarr growled furiously. He had worked hard to capture those creatures for Mr. Maitland and he was not going to let a meer boy throw away all that hard work. His gun was lying just behind the boy, if he could get to it, then may be he could just shoot him. Quickly as he could, he crawled like a worm towards it. Slowly but surely it was coming to be within his grasp, his fingertips were now just inches away.

As he reached for his gun, Skarr saw the young man open a new anomaly, and heard a bellowing noise coming from behind him. He looked behind him to see the baby ancylotherium-now freed from his cage-running alongside his mother towards the anomaly.

The last thing Peterson Skarr saw before the life was crushed out of him was eight padded hooves running towards him at top speed.

* * * * * *

Now that the ancylotherium were back in their own time, that left just the dracorex and the embolotherium to send home. Slecting the number set for the Late Eocene Epoch, Connor opened the anomaly.

"Put that thing down!' growled a sinister voice behind him. Connor turned to see Jack pointing a pistol at him, his good eye blazing with fury.

"Give it to me, now" he snarled, cocking the pistol as he did so. Reluctantly, Connor handed the anomaly opener over.

"This thing will get me loads of dosh" said Jack. "I'll be able to open all the anomalies I want, and catch all the creatures I want."

"Yeah" said Connor calmly, "If the dracorex doesn't get you first!"

Jack turned around too late to stop the dracorex slamming into him and hurling him backwards. The anomaly opener flew out of his hand and smashed on the ground.

"No!" cried Connor just as the embolotherium dashed through his anomaly.

Suddenly from outside, there came the sound of sirens. Minutes later, ARC soldiers burst into the warehouse, behind them came Lester.

"Where is Jack Maitland?" he roared.

Connor pointed in the directon where he had last seen Jack. Lester glared at him.

"Connor, I know you're slightly insane but surely even you can tell the difference between your co-worker's brother and a dracorex."

Connor looked in the direction he was pointing. The dracorex was there, Jack's blood dripping off his horns, but Jack himself was not. He had escaped right from under the team's noses.

* * * * * *

Eight months passed, and life returned to normal for the anomaly team. With the anomaly opener destroyed, the dracorex had returned to his compund in the ARC, until another anomaly to the Cretaceous opened up. Not that he had any complaints, he was well fed and it meant that he got to spend more time around the mammoth, whom he had become quite good friends with.

Connor proposed to Abby and they were married in June. Meanwhile, Abby's pregnancy advanced, her tummy grew bigger and rounder as the months went by.

However, tensions were high in the ARC. Lester was furious that Jack had escaped and had now declared him an enemy of the state. Every-day when they weren't out helping the team, Becker and his men were sent to hunt for Jack. Abby was upset that her brother was being hunted down like a rat and begged Lester to call off the search, but he was not to be persuaded, which upset Abby even more. Even though what Jack had done was terrible, he was still her brother, and she loved him. At her wedding she scanned the pews to see if he had somehow managed to make it to see her married, but he wasn't there. Sometimes, when she was alone in the flat, she would rub her tummy and talk to her unborn child about Jack, telling it all the good things about its uncle, even though there weren't many.

Then, one day in late November, just two weeks before Abby was due to give birth, it happened. Jack was sighted!


	20. Mad Bad Jack

Nasty Jack

Chapter 20

The team rushed to the anomaly site where Jack had been seen. When they arrived, Becker explained the situation.

"We saw him looking at the anomaly, but he seems to have kept that pistol of his. He shot one of our men and that distracted us long enough for him to escape."

"So you mean he's on the other side of the anomaly?" said Connor.

"That's correct" said Becker.

While Lester went to check on things around the anomaly site, Abby turned to Connor.

"I have to go after him, Connor."

Connor looked at Abby as if she'd gone mad. "What, of course you can't Abby. You're too pregnant to be walking around the past, you know that."

Abby sighed and stared at the ground for a moment. "I know, but he's my brother Connor. I love him and I'm sure that there's still good in him. Can you understand that?"

Connor sighed. He had never had any brothers or sisters. But he knew how important family was, and that no matter what, you should always try to see good in them.

"Alright then, Abby" said Connor at last. "You go through and find him."

Abby smiled and kissed her husband. She wrapped her arms around his neck, he rubbed her bump where their son or daughter was. At last they pulled out of what could very well be their last kiss ever.

"I'll be back soon" said Abby. Then she went through the anomaly, leaving a worried Connor on the other side.

* * * * * *

Abby found herself in a moist, grassy world which, based on Danny's descriptions, she assumed to be prehistoric New Zealand. Her assumptions were confirmed by the sight of a herd of moa grazing nearby. They ignored Abby as she passed them.

Stumbling because of her tummy, Abby made her way across the grasslands, constantly on the look out for Haast's eagles, and Jack.

Finally though, she spotted him at the base of a cliff. He looked different to when she had seen him eight months ago, He had lost weight and appeared to have lost quite a bit of hair.

"Jack" she called, "It's me, Abby."

Jack turned towards her, he did not seem to be that pleased to be seeing his sister for the first time in eight months. In fact, he appeared to be angry.

"What are you doing here?" he asked in a rude tone.

"I heard about how you'd been spotted near the anomaly" said Abby, "I wanted to see you."

"Yeah, see me arrested no doubt" said Jack.

"That's not true, Jack" said Abby. "Listen to me. Back home, you're wanted by Lester, but if I can show him that you're not a bad person then maybe he'll drop the charges against you. Please Jack, I'm trying to help you."

For a moment, Jack was silent, then he suddenly perked up and the look of anger on his face turned to one of fury.

"Liar!' he roared, pointing behind Abby. She turned to see Connor, what was he doing here?

"You brought him here, didn't you?" ranted Jack. "You brought him here to arrest me!"

"No" cried Abby.

With a snarl, Jack took out his pistol and aimed it at his sister.

"Jack please" begged Abby, "Don't do this."

"Goodbye Abby" said Jack. Then he fired.

* * * * * *

"No!" cried Connor as Abby fell. He ran straight to her side, blood was drenching the clothing around her shoulder. For a moment, he wept for her and for their unborn child, now he would never be a father. Then he wiped away his tears and glared up at Jack with fury in his eys.

'Your own sister" said Connor through clenched teeth, "Your own sister and you've just shot her."

"I had to" said Jack. "She's one of the anomaly team, that makes her my enemy."

"Maybe so, but that still doesn't give you the excuse to kill an innocent child" shouted Connor, pointing at Abby's big tummy. Jack stared at it for while, then shrugged.

"So? Babies die all the time back home."

"Yeah, but not usually because they were killed by their own uncle before they were even born" snarled Connor.

Jack cocked his pistol. "Get back to the cliff wall, Connor."

Reluctantly, Connor did as he was told.

"Stop" said Jack when they reached the cliff, "That's far enough."

"What are you going to do?" said Connor.

Jack smiled. "First I'm going to shoot you Connor, so you can rot next to my treacherous, lying sister. Then, I'm going to go through the anomaly and kill Lester and the rest of his precious anomaly team. With them out of the way, I can catch creatures to my heart's content. But first, like I said, I need to get rid of you."

For a moment there was silence except for the sound of rolling thunder in the distance. Then Connor held his arms out on either side of his body.

"Ok then, fine, shoot me."

"What?" said Jack, he obviously hadn't been expecting this.

"I'd rather die than have a brother-in-law like you!" said Connor coldly.


	21. Justice is an Eagle Chick

Nasty Jack

Chapter 21

From the top of the cliff, a male Haast's eagle had seen it all. At first he had been eyeing the moa herd in the distance, then suddenly, next to them he had noticed a strange light and something had stirred in his memory. He watched as a heavily pregnant female human appeared out of the light and headed towards another human-a male-at the bottom of the cliff. He had seen them talk with each other, and then the male human pulled a gun on the female and shot her. A second male arrived and the two had engaged in a fearsome verbal battle, during which the first male human had forced the second to the cliff face.

Then, as the eagle took a good look at the human with a gun, he remembered. He remembered the strange light next to his nest on the plateau, he remembered being carried away from his family and shoved in a tiny cage surrounded by strange creatures. He remembered being absolutely terrified. But most all, he remembered the glassy blind eye. This human was none other than the one that had kidnapped him when he was an eaglet.

But he was no longer an eaglet, he was a fully grown Haast's eagle with a mate and eaglets of his own. And he had the perfect meal in mind for them. Spreading his enormous wings, he launched himself off the cliff and hovered for a moment. Then he folded in his wings and dived like a falcon towards Jack.

* * * * * *

Jack heard the sound of flapping wings and looked up just in time to see the Haast's eagle diving towards him at 80 km/hr. He aimed his gun at the bird and fired, but nothing came out.

"Damn" swore Jack, he had used up his last bullet on Abby. He hurled his pistol to the ground and ran. Meanwhile, Connor curled up into a ball and waited for the eagle to snap him up.

But the eagle did not attack Connor, at the last minute, he unfurled his wings and soared close to the ground towards Jack.

"No, leave me alone!" screamed Jack. he pointed at Connor. "Go back, kill him, kill him, not me!"

But the eagle could not understand Jack's pleas, even if he could he would not stop. Right now he had only two things on his personal schedule. The first was to get his revenge on the human who had caused him so much misery as an eaglet. The second was to feed his eaglets, he intended to do both right now.

As he got closer to Jack, the eagle's talons-each one the length of a man's arm-unfurled. As they came over Jack's shoulders, they closed again.

* * * * * *

Abby came to. She had not actually been shot badly by Jack, instead the bullet had only grazed her shoulder. It was painful but not fatal.

"Abby" said Connor weakly. Abby looked up to see Connor looking at her with amazement, the redness of his cheeks told her that he'd been crying. "Oh Abby" he said, tears of happiness running down his face.

"Connor" she said weakly, "Where's Jack?"

"Aaaargh, no!!!!".

Abby and Connor turned in the direction of the scream just in time to see Jack plucked off the ground by the male Haast's eagle.

* * * * * *

"Aaaaargh, no, no! Put me down!" cried Jack.

The ground below him was getting further and further away as the eagle carried him up to the clifftop. As they reached it, Jack saw a light brown eagle, the female, sitting on a nest the width of a large fishpond. For a moment, she examined the prey her mate had brought. Then slowly, shakily, she rose to her feet and got off the nest,revealing three, fat, fluffy Haast's eaglets. When they saw Jack, they immediately started chirping for food.

For a moment, the father eagle hovered above the nest, while the eaglets leapt up and down, trying to get at the squirming, screaming Jack. Then the biggest of the three elbowed his way to the front, before opening his beak wide, allowing his father to lower Jack in with agonising slowness.

Down on the ground, Connor covered Abby's eyes so she wouldn't see the terrible thing that was happening to her brother. But nothing on earth could have blocked out Jack's final, blood-chilling scream.


	22. A Temple is Born

Nasty Jack

Chapter 22

Abby sobbed into Connor's chest as he tried to comfort her.

"He was my brother, Connor" she sobbed. "My little baby brother."

"I know Abby, I know" said Connor comfortingly.

Suddenly, Abby screamed and pulled herself away from Connor. She looked down at her jeans, where a damp patch was rapidly forming between her legs.

"No, oh no" whimpered Abby, sobbing even harder.

"Abby, what's wrong" asked Connor, although he had a feeling he already knew.

"My waters have broken Connor" sobbed Abby, "The baby's coming!"

* * * * * *

Three hours later, Abby found herself lying on a bed in the maternity ward of the hospital.

She and Connor had somehow managed to get through the anomaly before it closed behind them. Once back in the present, she had been bundled into an ambulance by the medics, grunting with pain and trying to resist the urge to scream from these early contractions, there'd be plenty of time for that later when the more painful contractions came.

Now she was suffering those contractions. Abby remembered how she had helped that woman give birth in the hospital where they had found Sid and Nancy, back then she could not possibly imagine what the pain must have been like, now she was experiencing it herself.

Connor had remained by her side the whole time, whispering encouraging words to her, urging her on like a prize fighter.

"Come on Abby" he whispered. "You can do this, you can have this baby."

"Come on, Mrs. Temple" said the midwife. "It's almost out, I can see the head. All you have to do is give it a couple more really big pushes and it'll be out."

"Ok' whispered Abby. She gritted her teeth as another contraction racked her body. Then when the second one came, she gave it an almighty push. The baby's shoulders hung for a moment, and then...

"It's a boy" said the midwife.

"Oh my God" squeaked Connor as the midwife handed his new son over to Abby. "I'm a daddy!"

* * * * * *

Twenty minutes later, the entire team, Connor, Danny, Becker, Sarah and even Lester were clustered around Abby's bed, staring intently at the child that Abby held in her arms. He was small and slightly wrinkly as newborn babies often are. But on his head was a tiny tuft of jet black hair, just like his father's.

"Oh Abby" simpered Sarah, "He's beautiful."

"Congratulations Connor" said Becker, placing his hand on Connor's shoulder. "You're a dad."

"Yeah, I know" said Connor, staring at his new son.

For a moment there was silence. Then suddenly, Danny spoke up.

"So, what are you going to call him?"

"Well" said Abby, "Connor and I decided that if it was a girl we'd call it Claudia. But seeing as it's a boy, we're going to call him Nick."

"What, after Professor Cutter you mean?" said Lester.

"That's right" said Connor. "And when he's a bit older, we hope that he'll join us on the team." He bent down and stroked Nick's tuft of hair. Lester bent over the baby.

"You poor thing" he muttered, "Look what your parents have done to you and you're only twenty minutes old."

And everybody laughed. The sun was shining outside the hospital window, it was a beautiful day.


End file.
